Emaginationfilms Very few films shake my soul particularly at my age,this movie made me think about all the madness and pain man causes one another from an objective point of view. I think about mans madness often, but this is a truly extraordinary and perfectly laid out example of how insane and truly self destructive man can be no matter where we come from.This film was perfectly acted and filmed in such a beautiful manner, the score was complimentary not over bearing. I truly felt I was watching man through Gods eyes and felt terrible about the choices everyone made but understood where everyone was coming from. It was watching the world stay beautiful as man played out their ugly and messy lives on some of the most amazing backdrops.This film deserves higher praise than I am able to articulate, I'll just leave it at that.I'm not saying this to elevate myself or demean anyone, I truly mean what I'm saying. If you don't like it or get it, you are blessed with closed eyes and ignorance that could bring happiness in such a cruel world with a cruel past. I might be mad that you don't like the movie,but deep down I envy that ignorance it's the only thing that can bring peace to ones mind.

Mr. Jones Westerns have been quite the resilient genre, but the same time Hostiles is not usual gunslinger/outlaw Western. It is about change, which includes grief and what adapting means to one's moral compass. Christian Bale - who masterfully captures the PTSD-like weariness of a soldier who's killed too many - stars as an Army captain who is given orders to take an imprisoned sickly Cheyenne chief home to his reservation to die as a free man. But, like the other films directed by Cooper, each of those films seem to be in no rush to get where they are going. Bookended by an intense intro and tense finale which are thrillingly brutal, Hostiles also takes the long way in reaching its destination. Actually film feels even longer than it is (133m) because it prioritizes mood over narrative depth and momentum. The story itself follows a fairly predictable path, but at the same time film boasts a cast of brilliant actors which performances are quite good and the location photography is breathtakingly at times.In short, Hostiles is a mixed-bag drama when it comes to story and execution and like so many westerns, still mostly adheres to the one-sided stereotypical story telling. Film fails to reach its full potential, wanders off course from time to time, but eventually manages to deliver its simple message and understanding right on time. The movie generally worked for me, and it's been a good few years now since I came away from a cinema with that feeling about a western.8/10

TxMike I watched this movie at home on BluRay from our public library system, my wife decided to skip and read instead. The making-of extra is interesting, the writer/director explains how he wanted to make a western but with a message for modern times, tolerance for others with more kindness and less animosity.It is 1892, the movie starts with a scene where a family with three young daughters see a small band of Natives approaching their homestead, presumably to steal their horses. The man comes out shooting, seemingly a suicide move, and in fact only the woman survives, Rosamund Pike as Rosalee Quaid. She was destined to join the Army party to Montana.Christian Bale is war hero Capt. Joseph J. Blocker, at a Post in New Mexico, with a reputation for killing Natives, sometimes brutally. An old chief (Wes Studi) has been imprisoned for years and Blocker would really like to kill him. But instead is ordered to escort him and his family, including young grandkids, to their Montana homeland. At risk of losing his pension if he refuses.So that in essence is what the movie is about, the trip to Montana, the troubles they encounter along the way, the things they do to preserve themselves. Incidentally a trip from New Mexico to Montana is roughly 1000 to 1500 miles, depending on your route. That's a difficult trip in 1892 on horseback.Overall a very well made movie of a difficult subject.

rusoviet .....it slowly morphed into a meandering mess. The acting was decent all around but the seepage of 'pc' grew . A self-awareness is good for anyone esp. those who dealt in combat as a constant threat as these characters did but what didn't ring very true was the time period 1892 - New Mexico Territory. There were railroads that went straight up to Fort Collins-CO and the reference to Fort Pearce was across the Green River in Utah Territory close to St. George - no where near to a trek to MT esp. having to cross the Green River.The violence was warranted but it was constant but the most foolish stunt was the final violent scene with the father and his 3 sons - all four racists at least per the father's remarks. Reminded me of that colossal mess 'Dances With Wolves' although not as agenda driven as that sloppy film was.The west was settled by 1892. Had the setting been 1868 or 1876 yeah credible, it wasn't.